Lots of Little Updates and a Poem About Golf

Written on 9-22-2020.

        It’s silent writing time at the Swope Academy again.  We only gave them ten minutes, so this will be quick.  I play golf tomorrow, and Shawn will be bringing his son.  I’ve never met his son, so it will nice to meet someone new.  C.J. can’t make it due to appointments.  I didn’t invite Eric this time, because I didn’t want to pester him; he’s got a lot going on, and I know he will play when he’s ready.  Mike Goen was invited, but he will be working at Hillcrest.  He works mornings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, so now I know when I can invite him in the future.  I asked Don, but he is delivering food for the Aztec Schools from 9:00 to 2:00 every day.

I hope to play better after my “success” at the range, but I really never know how it will go with this new swing change.  Todd Graves starts many of his YouTube videos by saying something like this, “It’s great to know that when I go play, I will play great.”

Or, it’s something like that.  He is saying that he has the “feeling of greatness” that Moe Norman had.  I hope to have that feeling of greatness, too.  Now, if I can only keep my right foot down.

Written on 9-24-2020.

I feel encouraged even when I shouldn’t.  I ended up playing 27 holes yesterday.  Walking.  At Pinon Hills.  By the end, I was pretty tired.  After I played the first 18, I ended with a par and a bogey, though, and I felt I had something figured out.  A bogey on #18 is a good score, but it was especially good when a drive doesn’t reach the fairway.  It was gusty, and it was blowing right into our faces.  I thought I had reached the fairway, but alas, I had not.  From there, I used my utility club and hit a smooth shot a long way.  I pitched on, and I used up only two putts for by bogey.

Feeling encouraged by my final two holes, I decided to stay and play nine more.  The difference was that I was using the same swing thoughts that worked on the range, and they are keep my right foot down throughout impact.  It was working, and I wanted...

to see if it would continue on the next nine.  It did a little bit.  I got pars on #11 and #16, but the rest were not so good. 

I played 13 more holes this morning with Shawn and Tim.  On the front, it was more of the same, double bogeys or handicap sevens.  Yuck.  After hole #5, I stopped keeping score.  I even wrote on the scorecard, “STOPPED KEEPING SCORE.”

On the final four holes, however, I kept pace with Shawn.  We tied on the first three holes, and I ended with a par to his birdie on #13 before I left, and that’s why I feel encouraged when I shouldn’t.  

Instead of keeping my right foot down, however, I decided to roll my right foot through impact.  That was giving me great contact, even with shots out of the rough.  When I top shots, which is the most consistent miss I am having right now, they were saying I was “standing up.”  I decided to roll my right foot, and that really helped.  I will continue to try this out next week.  If I can stop the topping, I will be hugely more consistent.

Written on 9-29-2020.

I played with Shawn, C.J., and Shawn’s friend Randy today.  It was more of the same yucky stuff for me.  Mostly topping the ball.  I did get two pars, though, so I am going to remain positive.  I will write about those.

On hole #7, I had a fabulous drive, but my approach came out low due to thin contact.  Thin to win, right?  I made a decent chip from behind the green to about twelve feet, and I made that putt.  That was the only par on the front.

On hole #14, I made a good swing for my tee shot, but it faded to the right and landed in the rough.  Using my pitching wedge for the approach, I actually hit a green in regulation.  My first putt went up and over the fringe and then down to the hole.  I only have foot or so left, so I got my second par of the round. 

Written on 10-6-2020.

Big date, actually.  It is Jess’s birthday today, and it is also Danielle’s last day of work for her first fire season in Boise, Idaho. Jess is 77 today, and Danielle has just finished her third year as a wild land firefighter.  I write these things to mark the time, but I enjoy writing about them, too.  

I am so proud of Danielle and Matt.  Matt finished up his season in Santa Fe, and it was a record year.  They have both worked extremely hard and really put themselves out there, both figuratively and literally, and it was during one of the worst fire seasons on record, if not the worst.

On to golf…

I play golf tomorrow at Hillcrest.  It’s a different group this time.  I invited Mike Goen, C.J., and Greg Braum.  Shawn actually couldn’t play, and I was shocked by that.  He didn’t give a reason, but simply texted me saying he can’t.  I did ask Eric, too, even though I knew it was futile.  Because he had recently sold one of his mobile home parks, I thought he might.  He couldn’t play this time, though, because Becca had some time off from her nursing duties, so she is visiting.

We are writing poetry right now during our Swope Writing Academy, so here’s a poem about golf…

Golf

Wet your towel 

Clean your clubs

Mark your golf balls

Arrange your instruments in your bag for easier access

Stretch

Take practice swings

Go to the range

Judge the speed of the greens

Chip and pitch to different hole locations

Make five short putts in a row 

So easy to get ready to play

So difficult to actually play

Take that first swing

Follow your routine

Focus on the target

Let it go

Accept the results

Measure the distances with your range finder

Choose the appropriate club and swing

Get that first par

Hope for a birdie

Avoid the big numbers

Take it one shot at a time

Enjoy the weather

The surroundings

The nature

The cameraderie

The walking

It’s all about the game if your game is good

It’s all about the rest if your game is bad